Luke, 18: 9-23 has Words from Jesus. Jesus tells us about two kinds of people. What five Words of Jesus do Protestants miss?
“Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,
‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’”
The Pharisee could have been among the early Followers of Jesus! He refused to be among them. He was a Protestant.
What five Words of Jesus do Protestants miss? The Pharisee: “spoke this prayer to himself”!
Jesus tells us that this Protestant was not praying to God. He was praying to “himself”!
And, Jesus was right there in The Temple with him!
In every generation, Protestants pray to themselves! They believe that obeying some of God’s Teachings are enough to get them into Heaven!
~
Catholics strive to obey all The Words of Jesus. We know that we have failed to obey as well as we could. We Catholics are like the “tax collector”:
“But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’”
~
Every Catholic, every day, knows that we have fallen short. We have obeyed The Church-Founding Word of Jesus:
“And I say unto you thou art Peter and on this rock I build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I give you the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven.”
But, every Catholic knows: that obedience is the beginning of our great journey!
~
Then, Jesus tells us how He Judges the two kinds of people.
“I tell you, the latter went home (Heaven is “home”) justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
~
Every Catholic is blessed by reminders of Holy Saints and Angels. They obediently gave their thoughts, words, and works to God.
Every Catholic is grateful to Jesus, His Saints, and The Only Church He Founded! They keep us from “exalting” ourselves!
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Free e-books and reasons to be Catholic: catholicfundamentalism.com
